I am trying to understand it all.....subs and amps.

[StereoInstaller1]

I would agree with all of the above. Find a 2 channel amp that has 40 amps of fuse on it, find a decent SVC woofer (or dual 2 ohm), something with a cast aluminum frame and a 2.5" voice coil, you will be quite happy with the SPL and should be quite clear enough for anyone.

Oh, and I will be making boxes again this weekend, shipping early next week. If you want one, PM me.

Luke

[einstein57]

Stop scraping for the cheapest of the cheap. Go to best buy or circuit city and get something on sale or an open box buy. I went in a couple weeks ago and saw a 1000watt kenwood for $70. And the box makes a huge difference. I went through several pre fab boxes before i decided to make my own boxes. I love the way my $45 MTX woofer sounds pushed by my 250watt alpine amp. I had systems that cost over 5 grand and systems that cost me almost nothing. Basically don't buy something you don't want cause it just makes the thing you replace it with cost that much more. I don't know the electronics market in atlanta but you should be able to get an amp and woofer that should meet your needs (which i could be wrong cause you said your not trying to rattle your trunk but your looking for 1000watt woofers?)for around $200 which is about what i pay for a kicker or fosgate setup or under $200 for kenwood, sony, or pioneer. Then put it in stereoinstallers box which a lot of r3v guys can vouch for.

[e30pwr]

How so?

[Farbin Kaiber]

Now I'm lost.

[e30pwr]

Thank you. That was really the info I was after but now it all makes sense for the ratings and whatnot.

[StereoInstaller1]

And for the dual 4 ohms,

series = 2x4 = 8 ohms
parallel = 2/4 = .5 ohms......?

Huh? 4/2=2, so a DVC 4 ohm (per coil) is either 2 ohms or 8 ohms. So, either a monoblock capable of full power on a 2 ohm load or half power out of a 2 channel.

[e30pwr]

And for the dual 4 ohms,

series = 2x4 = 8 ohms
parallel = 2/4 = .5 ohms......?

[StereoInstaller1]

OK, it is like this: that woofer has 2, 2 ohm coils, right?

There are 2 different methods of wiring the 2 voice coils to one amplifier, called "series" and "parallel".

If you series them, you have 2 (coils) x 2 (ohms) thus, 4 ohms.

If you parallel them, you have 2 (coils) / 2 (ohms) thus, 1 ohm.

These are the ONLY 2 choices there are...so you would want to find either a 2 channel amp, which you would bridge the 2 channels on the series wiring: 4 ohms (mono) = 2 ohms per channel, thus optimum loading for just about any 2 channel amp from the $50 POS at WalMart up to some $1500 giant beast of a 2 channel. Basically, take your pick. You could also use half of a 4 channel amp with that woofer, and add a subwoofer amp later.

The other option is to find a Mono amplifier...do not confuse this with "mono mode" or some other thing, this would be a true 1 channel amplifier, generally meant ONLY for subwoofers and would need to have the woofer wired in parallel to make a 1 ohm load, and an amplifier capable of being happy with a 1 ohm load, meaning most of todays "Digital" amplifiers. Look for a power rating at 1 ohm, that is the big trick.

[e30pwr]

Alright. I know this is probably becoming annoying by now for you Luke, but sorry. Lets say I want this Crunch 12" for the box that you made. Its a Dual 2 Ohm. So its a DVC sub. When looking for amps how would I go about seeing the difference between the DVC/SVC type amps?

[Raxe]

The ski pass is pre cut into the rear firewall, all you have to do is punch out the metal piece.

[e30pwr]

Tablesaw, Drill press, dremel, bandsaw, I've got access to it all. Sorry for taking your posts as an ad for your services.

Let the slope be open now!

[StereoInstaller1]

So Eric, what did that thing weigh? I bet 3 800a2s weigh in at 40 pounds or so, minimum...then 3 12W6s have to weigh a ton all by themselves, plus I am pretty sure you had a box....

And as far as the 17 YO OP goes, did you not notice I was not trying to sell you anything? I assure you that you cannot get a better deal on quality gear than I offer, but I am not here to sell anyone anything, except for my custom boxes...which are the most important part of the system, and mine are built better than any installer I have ever seen in my 28 years as an installer.

So, yeah, man, feel free to build your own stuff. I am currently working on a pictorial of how to build the box I sell on here. Got a tablesaw? If so, you can do this, with some skill.

And yes, your ETA has a ski pass hole. Pull your back seat out and you will see it. 2 10mm bolts on the sides make it free, go to it!

Luke

[Eric]

I will say this: the only chance you have of EVER getting LOUD in an E30 is ported, or 9 million watts and a 300 pound subwoofer...
Luke

luke, back in high school I worked at best buy when they first got rockford fosgate (before rockford took that huge dump that they just seam to be recovering from)

anyways with some high school ingenuity i crammed 3 JL W6 12's between the shock towers with a 800a2 running to each sub!

you could visibly see the windshield vibrate, i think that is plenty loud! haha!


but i will agree with everything you posted that i cut out, a proper box w/ a little power will go alot farther than a shitty box with a shitty amp

[e30pwr]

Yeah. I have the eta so no ski pass, or so I think. I was thinking maybe a port that goes through the rear deck like the box you showed how to install in a previous thread. No offense I'd jsut rather buy the amp and sub(s) myself and make my own box. Will it be top of the line professional? Hell no. Will it work for getting some bass into my cabin and for a 17yr old? More than likely. I'm not looking for enough bass to flex my trunk or anything.

[StereoInstaller1]

If you want the best combination of boom and clear, I recommend a single 12. Best mix of size, fit and cost, IMO. My box is $150, a decent amp that makes an honest 500 watts is $175, a woofer capable of handling most of that is $100, shipping and such would likely be about $70, maybe less.

A pair of 10's just does not work in an E30, due to the fact that it is hard to get bass into the car. You could of course build a box with the 2 10's firing into the ski hole, but that would be a raging pain in the butt.

You could of course fire the woofers into the trunk, but then you are back to the whole "hard to get bass in the car" thing.